When Enitan Abdultawab walked into the University of Lagos convocation hall for the institution’s 56th graduation ceremony, the celebration carried a deeper meaning than academic success. Beneath the gown and smiles was the memory of a quiet Monday morning years earlier when his university dream depended on a single question: how to pay his school fees.
Today, Abdultawab is a UNILAG graduate with a Second-Class Upper Division. But his journey almost stalled at the starting point until Hon. Adeniran Ademola Adeyinka, popularly known as Sapele, a member of the Ogun State House of Assembly representing Sagamu/Makun, stepped in to pay his compulsory first-year fees of ₦66,000 in 2019.
Like many Nigerian students, Abdultawab’s admission came with excitement and fear in equal measure. Gaining entry into the university was one hurdle; settling registration charges was another. Without payment, there would be no registration, no lectures and no access to campus life.
“Admission letters mean little without receipts,” he said. “My future felt suspended between ambition and affordability.”
At just 19, with parents unable to meet the sudden financial demand, a distant relative advised him to seek help from Hon. Sapele in Makun, Sagamu. Abdultawab had never met the lawmaker before, but desperation pushed him forward.
“It was a quiet Monday morning. I walked from Offin to Makun and joined a queue of people asking for assistance. I felt I had no chance,” he recalled.
When the lawmaker arrived, the office moved quickly. One visitor after another went in and came out within minutes. Eventually, it was Abdultawab’s turn.
“He asked why I came. I told him I needed ₦66,000 to complete my compulsory undergraduate fees and that my parents were not financially buoyant,” he said.
Before the explanation could continue, Hon. Sapele waved him off, called his secretary and whispered instructions. Moments later, the secretary returned with cash.
“He counted the exact amount and handed it to me. He said, ‘Go and pay your fees and take care of yourself. Don’t thank me. Just go,’” Abdultawab recalled.
The entire encounter lasted less than five minutes.
“He even added, ‘Don’t tell anyone to call me to thank me. Pretend we never met,’” he said.
That payment, Abdultawab noted, did more than clear a bill. It opened the gate into university life — registration, lectures, course materials and participation in campus activities.
“That first receipt became proof that I belonged,” he said.
With access secured, Abdultawab went on to build his academic profile, engage in projects, leadership roles and professional development in writing and communication.
“Without that first payment, none of it would have existed,” he said.
Looking back from convocation day, he reflected on how easily the story could have gone the other way.
“Many students with equal potential never cross the first hurdle, not because they lack ability, but because circumstances close in too early,” he said.
While university life still came with pressure and doubt, he said Hon. Sapele’s intervention solved the most urgent problem at the most critical moment.
“It moved my story from ‘almost’ to ‘possible,’” Abdultawab said.
He also believes leadership is often misunderstood.
“We look for leadership in big speeches, but some of the most powerful acts happen quietly. Paying a student’s school fees is a life-saving act,” he said.
Now a graduate of the University of Lagos, Abdultawab says the degree carries both achievement and responsibility.
“I carry a certificate, but I also carry memory,” he said. “My UNILAG journey began with Hon. Adeniran Adeyinka paying my school fees. That ₦66,000 seeded everything that followed.”
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